Former Taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader Bertie Ahern has announced he
will not run for the Dublin parliament at the next general election.

Following a similar announcement by two current Fianna Fail Ministers,
Mr Ahern sought to pre-empt claims that his own retirement was also an
attempt to avoid humiliation at the next election.

In a speech to his party in the Dublin Central constituency, Mr Ahern
claimed it was always clear he would quit politics before he was 60
years of age.

In recent years, Ahern’s view of his political career has deviated
sharply from the public view of his administration and that of his
successor, Brian Cowen, both blamed for the economic collapse of the
26-County state.

Jokingly asked by reporters if he intended to run for the Presidency,
Ahern remarkably replied: “I don’t know. I honestly haven’t decided
that.” Asked if he was ruling out running, he said: “No, not tonight,
everyone would love to be in the Aras. Only one person will end up
there.”

Asked if he had any regrets, Ahern accused his own advisors and media
commentators of failing to warn him of the dangers faced by the heavily
over-leveraged banking system.

On Anglo Irish Bank, he said: “I can honestly say that not once did
anyone or any delegation that came in to see me ever say, ‘Watch out for
Anglo’ . . . I wish they had have.”

Ahern will be largely remembered as the ‘teflon Taoiseach’ whose
political skills vastly outstripped his capacity for governance.

His abilities to cajole and convince were quickly recognised by his
British counterpart, Tony Blair, who encouraged Ahern to extract key
concessions from Sinn Fein in the negotiations leading up to the 1998
Good Friday Agreement.

Ahern said he was proud of the role that he and former British prime
minister Tony Blair played in leading the negotiations on the Good
Friday Agreement “to a successful and a successfully lasting
conclusion”.

“Every single day, I thank God that I have lived to see peace
fulfilled.”

Brian Cowen described Ahern as “the consummate politician of our
generation and “a person of rare ability and extraordinary talent.”

Mr Ahern will receive an estimated 135,000 euro as a combined
ministerial and TD’s pension. Had he delayed his retirement until after
the end of February 2012, his pension would have been significantly
less.

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